This one was a little harder than the cozy, mainly because the colours were so strong they dominated any view of the bag. One side had what I called lattice work and the other eyes. Again this forlorn piece was brilliantly made. It had a beautiful retro 50s shape to it – which is probably what drew me to it, it reminded me of my grandmother’s handbag (which I still have). It was fully fulled, strong and wonderfully constructed. A lot of thought had gone into its construction – no visible seams or stitching, sturdy handles and reinforced bottom edge all perfect for a handbag.
The creator told me she was experimenting with a 3D look, wanting it to appear as tumbling blocks or bulging eyes, in an Escher-esque style, so hence the combination of colours. It nearly worked. I couldn’t see anything but the purple until I piled a whole pile of stuff around it. I would shuffle it every day; add some, take some, move some, until I placed the green glass beads next to it and Voila! I could see past the purple.
Next dilemma was what pattern or design with which to use the beads. The lattice was relatively easy to imagine but the other side gave me some grief! Firstly I thought of peacock feathers using the eyes as the eye of the feather but the scale was wrong. I tried to make petals to surround to eyes but again the scale was wrong. Eventually I decide to make flowers similar to a passionfruit flower. I forgot to take a photo of that side which I will rectify next Toss’n’Tell. (lol).
CPR applied:
1. Applied steam to reshape the bag.
2. Stuffed and pegged it into shape.
3. Couched the yarn to make the vine.
4. Stitched on the beads. Cut the leaves from left over foiled felt.
5. Glued on the leaves.
6. Cut – “Angel Hair” circles and millefiori felt beads, stitched beads to top and glued the lot on.
7. Glued on the leaves.
- The lattice work side.
- The eye side. The pegs were there to redefine the shape.
- Stuffing the bag helped regain its wonderful shape.
- Gathered stuff – waiting for the design to “come on down”. Pegs still attached.
- Autumn – lattice side finished with vine and fruit.
- Eye side with prospective peacock feather. Didn’t work – in the end they became Summer – vine and flowers.
